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Queen of country comes to the Coliseum
By Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com
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Though the title of "Queen of Country Music" is one that seems to be passed around rather freely from country diva to country diva, there's little doubt that Reba McEntire is one of the top contenders for the title.

She's rivaled only, perhaps, by several of her seniors, bearing regal Nashville names like Loretta and Dolly.

When McEntire, 53, comes to town a week from tonight for her U.S. Cellular Coliseum show (7:30 p.m. June 12, tickets still available), she'll be arriving in the wake of several major career transitions.

A year ago, her TV series, "Reba," ended its six-season stand on the WB network, around the time the channel itself merged into the CW network.

In her first year without weekly tube exposure, she also came to the end of her quarter-century MCA Records contract. She marked the occasion by releasing her most recent album, "Reba Duets," which pairs her with an all-star lineup that veers from pop (Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson) to country (Faith Hill, LeAnne Rimes) to classic singer-songwriters (Carole King).

The album, one of her biggest, debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard's pop and country charts, and quickly went platinum.

The "Duets" remake of Clarkson's pop hit "Because of You" became a country hit, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs charts and marking her 50th Top 5 single -- which ties her with Dolly Parton for the record among female country artists.

No wonder that "Queen of Country" crown tends to get passed her way so often these days.

Also easing McEntire's transition into a new era was her co-headlining tour with Clarkson, "2 Worlds, 2 Voices," which packed arenas earlier this year with pop and country crossover fans.

Because of this busy itinerary, McEntire hasn't been granting interviews on her current solo tour, according to her publicists.

In lieu of that, GO! hereby offers one of its signature pop culture pop quizzes to test the scholastic acumen of Reba fans and even the Queen's less ardent subjects.

The answers are at the end of the story.

1. Reba was born March 18, 1955, in McAlester, Okla., the daughter of:

A.) sharecroppers; B.) rodeo riders; C.) Grand Ole Opry caterers; D.) Minnie Pearl and Grandpa Jones, a scandal kept under wraps until now

2. Reba's first group was a family affair with her brother Pake and her sister Susie, known as:

A.) The Three Okies ; B.) The Singing McEntires; C.) Pake & Reba & Susie; D.) The McCountry Singers

3. Before committing to a country career fulltime, Reba entertained thoughts of becoming a rodeo performer and entered the only competition open to women, which was as a:

A.) barrel racer; B.) steer wrestler; C.) bronco buster; D.) sweetheart of the rodeo

4. Among her other rodeo-related perks was roping a husband, Charlie Battles, who competed as a:

A.) barrel racer; B.) steer wrestler; C.) bronco buster; D.) sweetheart of the rodeo

5. Reba's solo career took off circa 1974 as a result of her singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at:

A.) the Oklahoma State Fair talent show; B.) the National Rodeo Finals; C.) the "Dancing with the Hee-Haw Stars" auditions; D.) Chockie, Okla.'s annual Whole Wheat Days

6. Reba's first chart single, released in 1976, was called:

A.) "I Don't Want to Be a One-Night Stand"; B.) "I Frankly Want to Be a One-Night Stand"; C.) "I Want to Be a One-Man Woman"; D.) "I Want to Stand By My Man's One-Night Stand"

7. Reba's first Top 10 single, released in 1980, was called:

A.) "(You Lift Me) Up the Ladder of Life; B.) "(You Lift Me) Up and (Then Set Me) Down"; C.) "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven"; D.) "(You Lift Me) Up, Up Away in My Beautiful Balloon."

8. Reba is the only woman in the Country Music Association's history to:

A.) win "Female Vocalist of the Year" four times in a row; B.) lose "Female Vocalist of the Year" four times in a row; C.) tie for "Female Vocalist of the Year" four times in a row; D.) forego "Female Vocalist of the Year" four times in a row

9. Reba's smash 1986 hit, "Whoever's in New England," was interpreted by many as a woman's response to Barry Manilow's:

A.) "Mandy" B.) "I Write the Songs; C.) "Copacabana"; D.) "Looks Like We Made It"

10. In the early '90s, Reba courted controversy by addressing what hot-button topic in her hit single, "She Thinks His Name Was John":

A.) short-term memory loss; B.) D-I-V-O-R-C-E; C.) casual sex and AIDS; D.) casual motherhood and worse

11. Reba's first major acting role occurred in the 1994 Bruce Willis movie "North," directed by Rob Reiner. Critic Roger Ebert gave this critique:

A.) "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie." B.) "I loved this movie. Loved loved loved loved loved this movie." C.) "I walked out during this movie. Walked walked walked walked walked out during this movie." D.) "I fell asleep during this movie. ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ during this movie."

12. Reba also entered the publishing world during the mid-'90s, via her autobiography:

A.) "Reba: My Story"; B.) "Reba: My World"; C). "Reba: My Universe"; D. "Reba: Mine, Mine, All Mine"

13. The sounds of Reba emanated from the dance clubs of America, both gay and straight, courtesy of her 1996 remix of:

A.) "Disco Duck"; B.) "Disco Inferno"; C.) "Night Clogger"; D.) "You Keep Me Hangin' On"

14. Reba conquered Broadway in 2001 taking the title role in a revival of:

A.) "Annie"; B.) "Gypsy"; C.) "The Music (Wo)Man"; D.) "Annie Get Your Gun"

15. Following her embattled 1987 divorce from Charlie Battles, Reba stepped down the aisle a second time with the unusually named:

A.) Narvel Blackstock; B.) Pepe Longstocking; C.) Wilfred Woodstock; D.) Navel Leatherstocking.

Answers

1. B (her dad Clark was a world champion steer roper); 2. B; 3. A; 4. B; 5. B; 6. A; 7. C; 8. A; 9. trick question; it was Manilow's "Weekend in New England"; 10. C; 11. A.; 12. A; 13. D; 14. D; 15. A.



Lady Antebellum's success sign of Nashville golden age



By Brian McCollum | Detroit Free Press

Lady Antebellum's chart-topping triumph thrills Hillary Scott for all the obvious reasons.

But the vocalist says there's more than just personal satisfaction at stake. Her trio's success also symbolizes what she thinks is an important new wrinkle in country music, with self-empowered artists leading Nashville into a golden era.

"I'm just so excited about this new wave in country music. It's all about the songwriter," Scott says. "Taylor Swift has come and just exploded. You have James Otto, who's worked so hard. There's Ashton Shepherd. We say we're songwriters first. We love to perform -- that's a big part of who we are -- but this is the time of the songwriter. And that's beautiful to me. There's nothing more rewarding than being part of creating a song. It's a really cool thing, and it's what people are gravitating toward. I'm really excited about the next five or 10 years of country music."

The fresh-faced Lady Antebellum, opening for Reba McEntire at her U.S. Cellular Coliseum show June 12, is the latest entrant in a country sweepstakes that includes Little Big Town and Sugarland, whose telegenic guy-gal matchups scored big.

But what really stands out are the songwriting chops, performance skills and ear for Nashville tradition -- traits that place the trio among a growing class of artists who are doing it the organic way while nimbly straddling the worlds of country, pop and rock.

Lady Antebellum formed two years ago in Nashville, the result of a chance meeting between Scott and Charles Kelley in a nightclub. Soon discovering their collaborative sixth sense, they began writing prodigiously, accumulating the songs that would land on their self-titled debut album for Capitol Nashville.

This isn't your mom's crossover music, the sort embodied in sparkling '90s stars such as Shania Twain. It's a new hybrid, part of a trend that took off in earnest with the Dixie Chicks: young groups writing and performing their own material, unafraid to romp in country's roots while embracing the sass and spunk of contemporary culture. The 11-track "Lady Antebellum" was co-produced by Paul Worley, who helmed the sessions for the Chicks' breakthrough records.

"We're huge fans of theirs. I'd be lying if I said we're not influenced by them," says Scott, 23, the daughter of mid-level '90s hit maker Linda Davis. "If you stay true to who you are, just write what you know, and don't try to be something you're not, people are going to recognize that. They're just looking for something real."

In a media-savvy age when young music fans are equipped with more finely tuned counterfeit detectors, trying to pull the wool over an audience's eyes isn't worth the effort, says Scott.

"It's about real people. With the Internet and MySpace and iTunes -- I think with this generation in general -- that's what people want. They know if it's real or fake. That's not to say there wasn't great country music 10 years ago. The great songs and artists always shine through. But on the whole, I think a lot of artists now are trying hard to be the real deal. This is a whole different time."

Scott's reaction was certainly real on the eve of the album's April 15 release: Standing in a Nashville Wal-Mart at 3 a.m., she watched as a store staffer loaded her band's disc into the sales racks, and she broke into tears.

"There it was, under new releases. Right between James Otto and Mariah Carey," she recalls. "I was so overcome with emotion. Not only because I had worked my whole life for this, but because of how much we'd worked since we got together. These songs were our babies. I can't tell you how overwhelming this was. I just lost it."

So far, the payoff's been big. The disc has garnered upbeat reviews amid a big push from Capitol, leading to a No. 1 debut two weeks ago on Billboard's country chart.

Fans are already locking in to their favorites. Feedback at the Lady Antebellum Web site helped the threesome mold its set list as it travels the country on a breakneck promotional campaign.

Particularly popular are what Scott calls the group's "universal message songs" -- tracks such as "Home Is Where the Heart Is" and "All We Ever Need. " They're resonating with the group's base of "young girls, about my age, getting ready to leave for college or getting ready for the first big job," she says.



At a glance



What: Reba McEntire with Lady Antebellum

When: 7:30 p.m. June 12

Where: U.S. Cellular Coliseum, 101 S. Madison St., Bloomington

Tickets: $42.50 to $75

Box office number: (866) 891-9992

Take a look
Reba McEntire will perform at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum on Thursday, June 12.
Lady Antebellum with, from left, Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley will open for Reba McEntire on June 12 at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
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